The spokesman stated: “The pipeline also supplies gas to power plants in the South-West, in addition to feeding the West Africa Gas Pipeline System.

“The incineration of the ELP, which was built in 1989 was suspected to have been caused by bush fire on January 2, at Abakila in Ondo State.

“NNPC firemen were drafted to the scene and were able to contain the fire from the leak point of the pipeline incident. However, the fire could not be extinguished due to the high pressure of the line.

“To put off the fire, the line would require being isolated and depressurized, which might lead to complete shutdown of the pipeline segment for repair works to be carried out.